Joined: Thu Dec 22, 2005 7:53 pmPosts: 690Location: Between East and West

Chris Dodd was and still a good worker for the Democrat party, on and off the Senate floor. He will be missed by the democrats. But, it's almost a sure thing when one runs for the White House and loses, the person never recovers from the loss or having to bow out of the race. We can say the same for John Kerry who lost his clout , and a number of others that have ran and lost. Same more or so has happen to John McCain this past year, and he may lose his Senate seat come 2010.

_________________If you think you are beaten, your are. If you think you dare not, you won't. If you like to win, but you think you can't, it is most certain you won't.

Constituents are hurt by any retirement in Congress as long Chairmanships and committee assignments are prioritized by seniority. Al Franken as the last Dem seated is at the bottom of the list, it is only by attrition and new Dems being seated that he can move up. The Repug noise machine has this Congress running scared. When the Repugs had much slimmer majorities in both Houses of Congress, they were able to get whatever they wanted passed and virtually shut out the Dems from the process. I wish to Hell that the Dems would grow a set and do the same.

_________________“I'm not a member of any organized party. I'm a Democrat.”-Will Rogers

I agree...and herein lies something for which I hold President Obama responsible. He came into his presidency with his hand held out to the Repubs, inviting them to join him as Americans rather than as Republican vs. Democrat. He didn't hold any animosity towards them and thus expected them to be feeling the same way, especially with the amount of "political capital" he had at the time. He was hoping to bring bipartisanship practices among the Congressional members into the forefront in a way they had not seen in many years. He was naive in this respect..and I think he realized his mistake early on, but didn't want to be seen as practicing "more of the same." I think he expected the Repubs to acknowledge the fact that they LOST, yet this is so foreign to them...it's something they've never done...to this very day. The Dems don't quite know what to do...behave like Repubs to get their agenda across, or not? If they say no, they're going to lose the opportunity they may never have again to actually help the American people with health care and job creation. Obama should have seen the writing on the wall and become much more proactive, much more visible, and he should have "called out" those who were and are spreading lies and misconceptions about him and what he wants to do to help the country. I hold out hope, though, that he will find his stride this year...and maybe the Dems will follow suit.

_________________

"Behind every great fortune lies a great crime."Honore de Balzac

"Democrats work to help people who need help. That other party, they work for people who don't need help. That's all there is to it."~Harry S. Truman